Hague Secret Emissary Affair
Encyclopedia
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, in 1907.
Background
Following the Taft-Katsura AgreementTaft-Katsura Agreement
The Taft–Katsura Agreement was a set of notes taken during conversations between United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Prime Minister of Japan Katsura Tarō on 29 July 1905...
and Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, Japan sought to formalize its control over the Korean peninsula
Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
. Japan assumed hegemony over the Empire of Korea in conformity with the Eulsa Treaty
Eulsa Treaty
The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty or Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty, was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1905. Negotiations were concluded on November 17, 1905....
.
Event
The Korean Emperor Gojong sent three secret emissaries, Yi JunYi Jun
Yi Jun was a Korean judge and diplomat.Yi Jun was born in Bukcheong in the province of South Hamgyong and later worked as a judge in Seoul. In 1907 he and his compatriots Yi Sang-seol and Yi Wi-jong were delegated by Emperor Gojong to attend the Second Hague Peace Conference in The Hague...
, Yi Sang-Seol and Yi Wi-Jong
Yi Wi-Jong
Yi Wi-Jong was a Korean diplomat and military officer. His father Yi Beom-Jin was a politician. Yi Wi-Jong took part in World War I as a second lieutenant of Imperial Russian Army and died in 1917.- Life :...
to the Second Hague Peace Convention to declare the invalidity of Japanese diplomatic maneuvers, including the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 (Eulsa Treaty
Eulsa Treaty
The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty or Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty, was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1905. Negotiations were concluded on November 17, 1905....
). Gojong's representatives asserted the monarch's rights to rule Korea independent of Japan. However, the nations at Hague did not allow the emissaries to take part in the conference; but they blocked this diplomatic mission.
Gojong's emissaries were unable to gain entry into the convention hall. Korea was no longer viewed as an independent nation by the nations, as Japan had assumed responsibility for its international representation.
Recision
In 1965, the treaties of Japan were confirmed to be "already null and void" by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of KoreaTreaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea was signed on June 22, 1965 to establish basic relationship between Japan and the Republic of Korea .-History:...
.
, when the government of the Republic of Korea was established; but the Korean analysis of the 1965 declaration construes it as acknowledging the nullification of all treaties and agreements from 1904 onwards, which is consistent with the argument Yi Jun and others attempted to articulate in the Netherlands in 1907.
See also
- Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905
- Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907
- Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910